Thank you for UNICEF effort

The Davis chapter of the United Nations Association writes to offer sincere thanks to the citizens of Davis for once again giving so generously to aid the impoverished children of the world who receive assistance from UNICEF. In these continuing difficult times, and braving a chilly downpour, the children of Davis raised thousands of dollars Trick-or-Treating for UNICEF. These funds, combined with other contributions to UNA’s UNICEF account at First Northern Bank made throughout the year, came to a total of $11,700! We mailed a check for that amount to the United States Fund for UNICEF on December 21, assuring that the contribution will be triple-matched by another donor.

Thank you to the many individuals and organizations who contributed to this Davis tradition. Special thanks go to the Davis City Council for launching Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, and to The Davis Enterprise for letting the community know about the campaign. Thank you to the many wonderful teachers, parents, principals and staff at Davis schools who provided instruction, support and encouragement to children learning first-hand about global citizenship. Because of your support, students at schools around the City— Birch Lane, Chavez, Korematsu, Merryhill, Montgomery, North Davis, Patwin, Peregrine, Pioneer, Willett, Fairfield, DPNS, and Davis High School (Model UN) — were given the opportunity to participate in this effort.

Thanks go as well to the friends and neighbors responding generously to children who collected door-to-door for UNICEF and to the employees of First Northern Bank, who dealt with numerous deposits of coins, crumpled bills and checks with cheerfulness and good humor. Finally, thank you to Verena Borton, President of the Davis chapter of the United Nations Association, for providing guidance and inspiration over the many years of this campaign.

It goes without saying that these funds are badly needed. These are hard times for the children of the world, many of whom regularly go without the simplest of necessities. While you read this sentence, somewhere in the world a child under five has died from hunger. Through this campaign, the schoolchildren of Davis have literally saved lives. Along the way, they learned a little about the world and that they have the power to change it for the better.